Smalls enjoyed junior day visit to USC

By Phil Kornblut

Summerville DB Darin Smalls attended USC's junior day Saturday. Smalls has been favoring the Gamecocks since getting their offer and that remains unchanged. "It's a pretty big lead," Smalls said. "We took a tour and saw the campus and facilities. Overall I liked it. I talked the most with coach Grady Brown. He said I have a lot of opportunity to play because there are five DBs on the field at a time." Smalls also has offers from Clemson and Virginia Tech. He plans to visit Clemson in March and he might visit Tech in April. Smalls said he's not sure when he'll make a final decision. He was joined on the visit by his teammate, OL Zack Bailey, a 2015 prospect.

OL Branton Autry (6-4 320) of Coffeyville JC, KS is getting a lot of interest from USC these days and when he gets around to deciding on official visits he will take this summer and fall, he's confident the Gamecocks will get one.

Laurens DB Thomas Jones (6-3 200) is gaining momentum in recruiting circles. He recently was offered by North Carolina and Saturday he picked up an offer from USC while attending a junior day. He also has offers from Duke, Charlotte and Miami of Ohio and Clemson is showing some interest. He plans to go to Clemson for the spring game April 11th.

6-4 Jamall Gregory of Washington, DC made an official visit to USC over the weekend with his mother and he's now ready to make his college decision. Gregory said he plans to decide between the Gamecocks and Kansas State between now and Wednesday. He has not yet visited Kansas State.

Goose Creek DE Javon Kinlaw (6-7 265) has had USC at the top of his list since the Gamecocks were the first to offer him in August 2014. And he went to the Gamecocks' junior day Saturday thinking he might be ready to commit. But that didn't happen Saturday and Kinlaw say no commitment is coming from him anytime soon.

Conway WR Bryan Edwards (6-3 208) attended USC's junior day Saturday with the Gamecocks and Georgia at the top of his list and hoping to get some clarity about his recruiting. Apparently things became real clear to him on this visit because Edwards committed to the Gamecocks.